NK says to halt nuclear program if US, South stop drills
By Jun Ji-hye
The South Korean military remains on high alert against a possible North Korean nuclear test, with the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) performing emergency duties, officials said, Sunday.
The heightened readiness comes amid growing speculation that the North's fifth nuclear test is imminent, as means to marking its upcoming national events.
The North plans to celebrate the 84th anniversary of the Korean People's Army today and hold the seventh Workers' Party Congress early next month.
A government source told reporters that military authorities here are still tracking the movements of personnel and equipment at the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, adding that once such equipment and personnel are pulled out of the test facility, it will indicate an impending test.
The isolated state carried out its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 at the facility.
On Saturday, Pyongyang's Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong renewed the regime's long-running claims that the North has been developing nuclear weapons to counter what it says are U.S. nuclear threats and hostile policies toward Pyongyang.
In a rare interview with the Associated Press upon his visit to New York for U.N. meetings, Ri said, "Stop the nuclear war exercises in the Korean Peninsula, then we should also cease our nuclear tests."
His remark was a repetition of the North's proposals made in the past, which were rejected by both Washington and Seoul which stressed that the allies' joint military drills are purely defensive, while the repressive state is banned from conducting nuclear tests under a U.N. resolution.
Experts took Ri's remark as an apparent bid to justify any additional nuclear test by his regime.
Ri made an even harsher comment, Thursday, saying that the North will counter American nuclear threats with nuclear weapons, accusing Washington of plotting to launch a nuclear attack on Pyongyang.
He made the remark during a keynote speech at a high-level meeting of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals at U.N. headquarters.
Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun also said last week that Pyongyang is capable of carrying out a nuclear test at any time if its leadership decides to do so, noting that the ministry and the JCS are paying attention to claims made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on March 15 that his regime will test a nuclear warhead "in a short time" to demonstrate its nuclear capability to outside experts.
Moon noted that this time, the North may detonate a thermonuclear warhead during an underground nuclear test.
"The military has strengthened its surveillance posture against North Korea," Moon said.
The repressive state has so far conducted four nuclear tests in 2006, 2009, 2013 and Jan. 6 this year.
The regime has never conducted multiple tests in one year, but experts say that the latest development shows that it would be not impossible for the North to do so.
North Korea, already under international sanctions for its nuclear and missile tests, will likely face further penalties in the aftermath of another nuclear detonation.
But Ri said that sanctions against the North will not work, according to AP.
"If they believe they can actually frustrate us with sanctions, they are totally mistaken," he said.
Ri also said that "new opportunities" could come if the Seoul-Washington joint exercises are suspended, but otherwise, the situation will "lead to very catastrophic results, not only for the two countries but for the whole entire world as well," according to AP.
Pyongyang has long claimed that the annual military drills between the allies are a rehearsal for invading the North.
In the meantime, the North claimed Sunday a successful launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that can greatly advance the fighting capabilities of its Navy.
The country's state-run Korean Central News Agency said its leader Kim Jong-un was present for the event and stressed that Pyongyang now has the capability to strike its opponents in South Korea and the United States.
By Jun Ji-hye
The South Korean military remains on high alert against a possible North Korean nuclear test, with the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) performing emergency duties, officials said, Sunday.
The heightened readiness comes amid growing speculation that the North's fifth nuclear test is imminent, as means to marking its upcoming national events.
The North plans to celebrate the 84th anniversary of the Korean People's Army today and hold the seventh Workers' Party Congress early next month.
A government source told reporters that military authorities here are still tracking the movements of personnel and equipment at the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, adding that once such equipment and personnel are pulled out of the test facility, it will indicate an impending test.
The isolated state carried out its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 at the facility.
On Saturday, Pyongyang's Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong renewed the regime's long-running claims that the North has been developing nuclear weapons to counter what it says are U.S. nuclear threats and hostile policies toward Pyongyang.
In a rare interview with the Associated Press upon his visit to New York for U.N. meetings, Ri said, "Stop the nuclear war exercises in the Korean Peninsula, then we should also cease our nuclear tests."
His remark was a repetition of the North's proposals made in the past, which were rejected by both Washington and Seoul which stressed that the allies' joint military drills are purely defensive, while the repressive state is banned from conducting nuclear tests under a U.N. resolution.
Experts took Ri's remark as an apparent bid to justify any additional nuclear test by his regime.
Ri made an even harsher comment, Thursday, saying that the North will counter American nuclear threats with nuclear weapons, accusing Washington of plotting to launch a nuclear attack on Pyongyang.
He made the remark during a keynote speech at a high-level meeting of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals at U.N. headquarters.
Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun also said last week that Pyongyang is capable of carrying out a nuclear test at any time if its leadership decides to do so, noting that the ministry and the JCS are paying attention to claims made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on March 15 that his regime will test a nuclear warhead "in a short time" to demonstrate its nuclear capability to outside experts.
Moon noted that this time, the North may detonate a thermonuclear warhead during an underground nuclear test.
"The military has strengthened its surveillance posture against North Korea," Moon said.
The repressive state has so far conducted four nuclear tests in 2006, 2009, 2013 and Jan. 6 this year.
The regime has never conducted multiple tests in one year, but experts say that the latest development shows that it would be not impossible for the North to do so.
North Korea, already under international sanctions for its nuclear and missile tests, will likely face further penalties in the aftermath of another nuclear detonation.
But Ri said that sanctions against the North will not work, according to AP.
"If they believe they can actually frustrate us with sanctions, they are totally mistaken," he said.
Ri also said that "new opportunities" could come if the Seoul-Washington joint exercises are suspended, but otherwise, the situation will "lead to very catastrophic results, not only for the two countries but for the whole entire world as well," according to AP.
Pyongyang has long claimed that the annual military drills between the allies are a rehearsal for invading the North.
In the meantime, the North claimed Sunday a successful launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that can greatly advance the fighting capabilities of its Navy.
The country's state-run Korean Central News Agency said its leader Kim Jong-un was present for the event and stressed that Pyongyang now has the capability to strike its opponents in South Korea and the United States.
